The very first time I had ever played D&D was in March 2017, and... it kinda sucked. The session itself wasn't too terrible (there was a hilarious moment when the party realized that my character wasn't a kid) but a couple of the people were so shitty.

One person was someone I already didn't like. Born and raised Baptist, and had previously refused to refer to an old friend of hers by his correct name/pronouns. I had newly started going by my current name, and she, unsurprisingly, refused to respect me and use the right name/pronouns. The MINUTE I walked into the session with my friend, she happily shouted my birth name across the damn room, chipping away at the joy of playing a new game that had been building over time. I only hugged her back out of courtesy.

Ugh, whatever, I'm still gonna play, I thought.

Enter DM. Apparently I reminded him of his younger brother, who was kind of effeminate. I myself am a little effeminate, so whatever. But here's the kicker; the family inside joke geared at his brother was to refer to him by feminine pronouns. I didn't really give a shit what his family does in their own home, but he started calling ME "she" because of the association to his brother. Most everyone(besides the Baptist) stood up for me and corrected the DM each time it happened. The damage was already done, though, and I felt like shit. Gender dysphoria hit me right in the dick and I don't think I bounced back for at least the rest of the week. I dunno if my friend still plays with that group. I hope not.

Edit: jesus I didn’t expect this to get much attention. To be clear, I don’t play with this group anymore. And I too am honestly surprised that Baptist chick didn’t think D&D was satanic, lmao.